[ankersoe]

I have recently purchased a DTG Kiosk II and I am looking for some hints to how I can print t-shirts with more vibrant colors. When I print the color seems faded vs. original artwork. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[DAGuide]

You probably need to post more information in order to get good feedback. Here are just some of the questions that you might want to post:

1) Which inks are you using?
2) Are you using a RIP or the driver? If a RIP, which RIP?
3) What graphic software program (Corel, Photoshop,...)are you printing from?
4) What is the color management settings in the graphic software set to?
5) What are your settings in the RIP or the driver?
6) What types of shirts (name brand, fabric, color,...) are you using?
7) Are you using pretreatment? If so, what is your pretreatment process?
8) Have you run a nozzle check? If so, what did it look like.

All of the items above can have an effect on your colors. Thus, the reason for knowing this before giving you good advice and not just sending you on a wild goose chase. I am sure if you call tech support, they would ask the same if not similar questions.

Mark

 

[ankersoe]

I am using DTG Digital Bright Ink,
I am using DTG Rip Pro V.03
The artwork is printed from Photoshop
The color management is set to US Wep coated SWOP since the printer setting is set to SWOP as well.
I noticed in the Rip setting that the "Choke & Feed Adjustment setting" was set to 320x320 in resolution on color and ink, wonder if that could have have an impact?
I am printing on 100% cotton, when a dark/black shirt I pretreat it and put it in the heatpress before printing. So the faded color outcome is the same whether it is a white or a colored shirt.
I have done nozzle check and it looks fine.

Thank You for your suggesttions.

Ulrich

 

[vinyl signs]

Try setting vivid darker! Also on white shirts I sometime find it looks a lot better if printed twice! Also what color settings are you using CYMK or RGB?

 

[ankersoe]

I am using CMYK and I used vivid. I have not tried printing twice, if you have to print everything twice, then it is no longer cost effective or is it?

 

[DAGuide]

Ulrich,

Your RIP is very similar to MultiRIP GP. So you might want to check out this video:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KweQ5DPci-w[/media]

You will also want to change your color settings under the Edit menu --> Color Settings. If you convert your color mode to RGB, you probably want to change the RGB Working Space to one that shows up in your RIP under RGB Source Profile and convert your graphics to the Working Space.

Other people prefer to turn off the color management completely. You can do this by going to Print Preview and choose Color Management in the drop-down. For Color Handling field, choose No Color Management.

You are going to have to play with some of the settings to see what works best for your graphics, your shirts and your pretreatment techniques... but that is the fun part of dtg printing. Otherwise, these printers would be in every Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens,....

Good luck!

Mark

 

[DAGuide]

Vivid / Darker can work for some graphics, but you can lose some of the details and skin tones. So it depends on the graphic whether that is an acceptable option or not. You also have the option of 2-passes, but as stated above... it takes additional time. Just need to figure out what works best for you and go with it.

 

[zhenjie]

Highly suggest you do a double pass. If you print at 720dpi, it's not really that time consuming in most cases. Its better then doing a single pass at 1440

 

[Don-ColDesi]

Some things to try:

1. Try printing in RGB instead of CMYK mode (or vice-versa)
2. Try printing from a different software application
3. Press your shirt before printing to smooth the surface and dry the shirt.
4. Increase the "brightness" of the image in your software
5. Make sure the colors you are printing are in gamut
6. If you want your monitor to more closely match the output, load the RIP default profile into your software to be used for your monitor.

Hope this helps!

 

[vinyl signs]

6. If you want your monitor to more closely match the output, load the RIP default profile into your software to be used for your monitor.
Hope this helps!

Don what is this profile called? I looked in my software and do not see anything named DTG or ant resemblance.

TIA

 

[Don-ColDesi]

Brian,

I'm not exactly sure which file it is, Fred will be here tomorrow and I'll have him show me how to do it. Try posting the question on the RIP Pro section of the DTG Forums and maybe he'll get back to you before I see him tomorrow. Sorry for not having the whole answer, gotta het back to getting ready for SGIA

Happy Printing!

 

[adrenaline]

I would try using 720 x 720 and use RGB if you can. RGB I find gives alot more extact vibrant colours. If you are using PS then convert art work to RGB as well before sending job over. I have played with 1440 and it is way too much but 720 seems to work fine. Also when doing darks ensure you have enough white ink going down and the pre spray is done correctly. For white I use 1440 multi shot, with unerbase set at 240. This works fine for me.

 

[Don-ColDesi]

The settings mentioned by adrenaline are for Print Pro - not RIP Pro. The settings you mention are correct.